-- Right-hander Freddy Garcia fell to 7-8 with a 5.27 ERA in 23 career starts against the A's. He pitched into the sixth inning, allowing four runs on nine hits, before he was pulled with two outs. He called the outing one of those games when "everything's going wrong."

"I was in trouble the whole game," he said. "But I was able to keep the game close."

The four earned runs were the most that Garcia surrendered in one game since April 28 -- his last before being bounced from the starting rotation. Until last night, Garcia had posted a 2.36 ERA in his previous 13 appearances, the last three as a member of the rotation.

Garcia allowed a two-run shot to Yeonis Cespedes and a two-run single with the bases loaded in the third inning against Seth Smith.

“I just didn’t think his stuff was as sharp tonight, especially early on," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He did a heck of a job getting out of some jams tonight. He could have given up a lot more than he did. He battled."

-- An injury kept the Yankees from seeing Cespedes during the team's first trip through Oakland. But they got a good look at the Cuban sensation, who golfed a Garcia curveball into the stands in left field.

"He's got some bat speed," Girardi said. "We knew that; we know he has some power. Freddy left a curveball on the inner third and he hit it out."

Garcia said the curveball wasn't a bad pitch, though Cespedes made it look like one.

"Really good curveball, down," Garcia said. "He got it pretty good... Nothing I can do about it."

-- Right-hander David Phelps tossed a perfect 2 1/3 innings in relief of Garcia. Upon taking over for Garcia in the sixth, Phelps retired all seven batters he faced while recording four strikeouts.

It was a dominating return to the big leaguse for Phelps, who had been sent down just before the All-Star Break, despite pitching well in a spot start against the Rays. The Yankees sent Phelps down so he could build up his arm strength. This way, he could be leaned upon to start, if needed. He was recalled on Wednesday.

While in the minors, Phelps said he worked on throwing his secondary pitches, even when he found himself in counts that favored hitters.

"I was throwing changeups and curveballs behind in the count, working my way back into the count that way," Phelps said. "And I had a lot of success doing that."

-- Before the game, Girardi said he envisioned using Phelps in late-game situations, perhaps even while protecting slim leads. But it's clear that Phelps also presents the Yankees with the choice of sliding into the starting rotation.

"When we sent him down, we wanted to build him up because he wasn't getting a lot of work," Girardi said. "He's built up and I think he can really help us."

-- The Yankees had won nine straight road games against the A's (48-44). It had been the Yankees' longest streak here since the Coliseum opened in 1968. The A's have heated up, improving to a big-league best 11-2 in July, vaulting themselves into the thick of the jumbled race to capture one of two wild cards.

"They're playing better," Girardi said. "They've won 10 out of their last 12, they had a big win yesterday (a walk-off against the Rangers), they're swinging the bats better, their starting pitching has been good and their bullpen has been good."

-- A's right-hander A.J. Griffin improved to 2-0 in his first five career starts after allowing just two runs in six innings against the Yankees.

"He's got that equalizer with that 65 mph breaking ball," said Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher said. "The next time we face him, I think we'll know a little more about him. He started throwing that breaking ball a lot."